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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

I have been contemplating long and hard of how I should begin my blog. Over the last two days I have seen many of you talk about life’s challenges and came to realize that there would be no better way to start out than by sharing one of my favorite lessons that life has blessed me with. It is a lesson very dear to me. One that I reflect upon almost daily, and one for which I am often remembered.

For as long as I can remember I had always dreamed of being in the military. From being a little 4 year old girl in braids walking around in my grandfathers oversized fatigues, to commanding my fellow peers in JROTC, to my short lived time in the United States Air Force; It was always a goal and dream that I pursued with all that was within me. In the midst of my training however, an unfortunate injury kept me from continuing to chase after that dream. One Sunday, while sitting in a pew in a church at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas, I begged and pleaded with my Father in Heaven. “Please! Pleeeease heal me! I know that you have the power to. Please send your blessings upon me, that I may continue to press forward”. With that I stood, and at that very moment a loud pop rang out and I fell to the ground. That was the breaking point to my injury, and the end of that dream. Looking back now though I can see that He did answer my prayer. He healed me and helped me be able to press forward; But what He healed was not my knee but my heart and He helped me press forward not in the United States military, but side by side with soldiers fighting an even more important battle. . .Life.

I often wondered why. Why would my Father in Heaven allow me, and even encourage me, to pursue a dream if it was only going to be taken from me. But as the rain stopped and the clouds parted, I saw the seeds that had been planted begin to grow. All the pain that had come during the tending of this dream had brought forth a garden of blessings that I never imagined I would one day harvest. Even though my time in the military was short, I learned many many valuable lessons.

One such lesson came during an FTX (Field Training Exercise). Basically, war simulation. To this day I will never forget the words of my instructor. “Don’t be afraid when you start getting shot at; Be afraid if your not. Your enemy does not care where you are, as long as you are not in a place or position that will ultimately lead to your victory and his defeat. The closer you get to your target, the more you will be shot at. That will be how you will know when you are going in the right direction. Push forward with courage, remembering all that you have been taught, and united with those who have been sent to fight the battle with you.”

I can not even think about those words without feeling the Spirit come over me. If there was only one thing I could have learned in this life I would want it to be that one simple but very powerful lesson. Satan does not care where we go in this life. He does not care what we do or with whom we associate. That is, as long as those people or events do not put us “in a place or position that will ultimately lead to our victory and his defeat”. It is the times in our life when we are getting shot at that we must step back and ask ourselves why. Is it because we have ignored all our “basic training” causing us to be lost and confused while trying to navigate a dark and treacherous terrain alone? Or is because we have installed fear into our enemy as he sees our strength and armor glistening on the horizon, and he has begun to shoot with all his might in hopes to detour us from winning the battle that we have been sent forth to fight?

If it is the latter; If we are doing all that we can and should be doing, then we must not fear the rapid firings against us. We must “…push forward with courage, remembering all that (we) have been taught….united with those who have been sent to fight the battle with (us)” and remembering some of the most comforting words found within the scriptures: “Be strong and of good courage; Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: For the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” ~Joshua 1:9

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Going through life's tests and trials is not always the easiest thing to do when you think you are alone. Bringing a little inspiration along the way is the comfort that is always needed in those moments. Hopefully some of things I will share will bring that comfort and joy to you during those times. And always remember you are never alone.